1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer programs and in particular to software for controlling and moving along paths of previously accessed interactive inter- or intra-net HTML source files.
2. Description of Related Art
Current web browsers for accessing HTML (HyperText Markup Language) files from inter- or intra-net computer servers build an access path for accessed web pages constructed from data in the HTML files and provide the ability to move backward and forward along the access path. While this works well for data (non-interactive) web pages, it has drawbacks for interactive web pages. An interactive web page includes response areas on the screen that are used to communicate information to the user.
Although from the perspective of the user on the client computer it may appear as though only one interactive screen is used, in reality a new screen is created from the HTML data each time there is communication between the user and the web server program on the network computer. In most instances, the user is not interested in the various iterations of the same screen with blanks partially or wholly filled in.
These various screens which differ little from each other create a problem when the user attempts to move backward along the access path. The user must navigate through every screen that was created in the course of filling in the blanks for the interactive session to get back original screen position. When using the "BACK" function on the typical web browser, this means that additional time is expended. Additionally, the web browser cache in which the data to reconstruct the screens using HTML has its limits, which means that fewer different screens are saved. If the web browser screen access path is utilized, this path record may also be limited in the number of screen and web site URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) stored.
Bearing in mind the problems and deficiencies of the prior art, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved method and system for controlling and moving along paths of previously accessed interactive inter- or intra-net HTML source files.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a web browser which will have the ability in the web browser cache and web browser screen access path to distinguish between interactive screens having blanks and interactive screens having filled-in blanks.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a web browser which will have the ability to selectively eliminate from the web browser cache interactive screens having filled-in blanks.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a web browser which will have the ability to avoid in the web browser screen access path interactive screens having filled-in blanks.
Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.